More than 40 years of passion for the traditional, classical music of the Orient!
Paul Grant
Born 5th May 1951 in USA
Married
Resides in Geneva, Switzerland
Paul Grant is American by birth, Oriental at heart and Genevois by adoption and is also one of the few westerners who has dedicated himself to the study of oriental music for more than 40 years. He is recognized for his mastery of the art of santur playing in several musical traditions: India, Iran, Afghanistan and Kashmir. He has extensively researched the links that connect these cultures and has also studied tabla and sitar. Keenly interested in old and rare instruments and styles of playing he has restored and built a number of musical instruments as part of his lifelong quest for the perfect sound.
Studies
— Kashmiri Santur (Indian)
with Ustad Ghulam Mohamad Saaz Nawaz (Kashmir).
— Iranian Santur and Radif
with Mohamed Reza Lotfi and Madjid Kiani (Iran and USA).
— Sitar and Talim with Radhika Mohan Moitra (Calcutta).
— Surbahar with Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (Amsterdam).
— Tabla with Zakir Hussain and Jnan Prakash Ghosh (India and USA).
Career
Born in Atlanta, USA in 1951, Paul began his musical career as a drummer and singer with various bands playing rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and jazz. He was gradually drawn towards the Orient and his musical horizons opened as a result of his first trip to India in 1972. From then on he has totally devoted himself to the musical repertoires of Northern India, Persia, Kashmir and Afghanistan.
From 1990 to 1993, he taught sitar and tabla at the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music in the World Music Department. Since 1994, he has been teaching both Kashmiri (Indian) and Persian (Iranian) Santur, sitar and tabla at the ADEM – “Les Ateliers d’Ethnomusicologie de Genève [link]” – Centre dedicated to research, documentation, organization of concerts and workshops of traditional music and dance of the world.
He has played with many different groups. From 1998 to 2003 he was a member of the Ensemble Kaboul (traditional music from Afghanistan) which enabled him to add this repertoire to his vast knowledge of oriental music. In 2003 the Ensemble Kaboul received the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music.
From 1997 to 2003, he also played with the Kathak/Flamenco group in the Dance and Music program “From Benares to Jerez” displaying his mastery of the rhythmic and melodic affinities of these two traditions.
In 1998 and 2004 with the Ateliers d’Ethnomusicologie de Genève [link], he organized and participated in two “Voyages en Orient” - musical odysseys which explored the diversity and similarity of repertoires extending from the slopes of the Himalayas to the shores of the Mediterranean. A recording, entitled “Voyage en Orient”, magnificently captures the ambiance and dynamism of these concerts which were greatly appreciated by the audiences in Geneva.
With Amdathtra [link] – Association of Traditional Music, Dance and Theatre – he has taken part in several concerts organised to celebrate Diwali at the Octogone Theatre in Pully, with Pandit Nayan Ghosh, Ustad Asad Ali Khan and Ajit Singh, amongst many others.
Over the years, work with the Radio Suisse Romande [link] has born fruit in the form of special events, recordings and participation in “Notes d’Equinoxe” [link] as well as in the festival “Poussière du Monde” [link] in Geneva.
Paul Grant is a frequent performer at the University Terre du Ciel [link], Sagesses et Savoir du Monde. He regularly participates in the “Lumières de l’Inde” Festival and in the forum that takes place each year in Aix-les-Bains.
He has performed and recorded many duets with Pandit Nayan Ghosh with whom he has elevated the musical dialogue of the Hindustani tradition to unequalled heights to the great delight of audiences in Switzerland, France, Morocco and elsewhere. They have made two recordings “Dialogues” and “Ragas for Serenity” – which are beautiful examples of the improvised dialogues between two performers which is an authentic element of this classical music tradition.
Many other projects, creations and cooperative events have also seen the light of day over the years including concerts in Europe, India and the USA.
Since 2008 he has again taken up the study of the music of Kashmir, in particular the Sufyana Kalam which is the traditional poetry and music of the Sufis. This renewed interest has lead him to collaborate with Laurent Aubert on the making of a CD “Cachemire, le Sufiana Kalam of Srinagar” for the ethnomusicology collection of the Musée d’Ethnographie de Genève [link].
Indeed his interest in the music from faraway lands, his participation in traditional groups proves that a heartfelt dialogue is possible between people of very different cultures. It is a symbol of hope in our world so in need of true dialogue beyond linguistic, religious, political and economic boundaries.
Recordings
2010: CD “Santur Saga”, compilation of recordings of classical and traditional music in which Paul plays both the Kashmiri (Indian) and Persian (Iranian) Santur. Produced by Nagma.
2006 : CD “Ragas for Serenity” with Pandit Nayan Ghosh.
Produced by Nagma.
2002 : CD “Dialogues” with Pandit Nayan Ghosh.
Recorded at the Radio Suisse Romande, Espace 2.
Produced by Arion.
2000 : CD with Ensemble Kaboul : “Nastaran”.
Produced by Ateliers d’Ethnomusicologie.
1995 : Participation in CD “A la croisée des Cultures”.
Produced by Ateliers d’Ethnomusicologie.
1993 : Cassette Hommage à l’Orient : “Raga et Maquam”.
Produced by Editions du Relié.

From rock to raga
"An initiatory journey into music"
An interview that appeared in the magazine “Sources” – March/April 2007Paul Grant is American by birth, Oriental at heart and Genevois by adoption. One of the few westerners to have totally dedicated his whole adult life to the study of oriental music, he is recognized for his achievements in the art of santur playing in the traditional repertoires of India, Iran, Kashmir and Afghanistan. He has also specialized in tabla and sitar.
From the USA to “Mother India” it is as much a spiritual, as a musical journey that he pursues in his quest for the perfect sound and the unity to be discovered under-lying these authentic traditions once you scratch the surface and return to their source.
What was your first contact with music?I first discovered classical music with my mother who was a lover of music. She listened to Bach, Brahms and Mahler in spite of a difficult and dishevelled life – my father was a professional soldier – and was frequently moved to different bases and even from continent to continent. I was not yet 10 when my parents died and I was sent to an orphanage where I was very unhappy. Even so I learnt to play the piano and sang in the choir. One of the positive aspects of this period was that I was put in charge of the rose garden and there found inner peace. From my earliest years, both music and nature have spoken to me of the beauty of the world, even from within the heart of despair.
I was fifteen years old when I left the orphanage and started to play the drums and sing in rhythm and blues groups for college balls. The Sixties in the States was a time of openings and renewed hope for a different life; I completely identified with the demonstrators who sought a meaning to life other than the materialistic ideals of American society. In the meantime, at seventeen years old, I fathered a daughter and so played rock and jazz in clubs to earn money for the upkeep of my family. I had spent half my childhood in the sinister military bases of the American army and the other half in an austere fundamentalist Christian institution. Playing rock music gave me a means by which I could express my anger and revolt. At the same time, it gave me the opportunity to participate in this revolution underfoot, in a positive and very personal way.
How did you discover Indian music?
In 1968 I went to live in California. This was the era of “make love, not war”, civil rights marches, hippies and demonstrations against the absurdity of the Vietnam war. The big rock and folk music festivals held an almost mystical dimension of communion; we were filled with the hope of changing the world!
India was part of this world what with its yoga and spiritual quest; after all the Beatles had their guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The first time I heard classical Indian music, I was over-whelmed. These were such new and unknown sounds, subtle and delicate that reminded me of something buried deep inside. This music drew me inwards, whereas what I was playing was born of force and fury and oriented outwards. As I discovered Indian music I also discovered the books of Sri Aurobindo that I read with passion. His evolutionary view of humanity inspired me, above all the notion of the various planes of reality and consciousness that man must integrate to be able to participate creatively in life. Not for oneself but to serve the Divine.
In the interest of objectivity I must also mention the negative side of this period. Especially the drugs in which many -including close friends- totally lost their way, blown away by the artificial paradise that lead them to death. I must have a good guardian angel for I too could have gotten lost there... In fact it was music that saved my life! It has always been my shining star and my compass, my doorway to higher spheres. Music opens me to transcendence and gardening connects me with the earth. I truly need both so as to maintain a sense of balance.
What made you decide to go to India for the first time?
It was Sri Aurobindo that first attracted me to India and indeed I left America so as to go to his ashram. I was twenty-one years old and separated from my daughter and wife who had returned to live with her family. My first visit lasted more than a year. It began in Pondicherry where I discovered Indian philosophy and spirituality. And also music of course. At that time Sri Aurobindo’s ashram was quite an extraordinary place; there were seekers, artists, intellectuals from all over the world who were attracted by his vision and teachings of integral yoga. I took part in the construction of Auroville which had just begun under Mother’s directions. There was a lot of enthusiasm and the desire to build something totally new. In a certain way, it was a continuation of the dynamism of the sixties in California for me, with a return to the source. There, where what I was searching for appeared to still be alive and well, and where enlightened beings were showing the way.
You could study all sorts of traditional arts at the ashram such as yoga, Sanskrit, tantric philosophy, Indian dance and music. It was a meeting place for the best from both the East and the West, but also an opportunity to be totally immersed in the traditional Indian lifestyle. I had some fundamental experiences during which I discovered, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that what was essential resided deep within me. That is when I realized that my spiritual path was music. And specifically Indian music in which the raga, is as much a search for the Self, as it is a musical system. On the practical level, I had already started talking lessons in sitar, singing and the tabla. This is when the pattern of my life for the next twenty years started: alternating six month periods in India and California. Rather like alternating phases of absorption and digestion.
Coming from the US, the discovery of India was amazing, astounding. A kaleidoscopic encounter with the full potential of humanity through history and space, from the worst to the most sublime! I criss-crossed the country by train -in third class without a reservation- for months on end, avidly seeking enchantment which constantly renewed, totally reduced all my old beliefs to dust.
For many Westerners, the demonstrations of the sixties, that challenged established materialistic consumerism, opened the door to oriental spirituality.
Indeed many in my generation participated in the big demonstrations, but also in a shared quest for a different lifestyle, a feeling of brotherhood and authenticity, closer to nature. We identified deeply with this inner search but without yet realizing that it involved a total transformation on our part. To better gain access to this inner opening many of us headed to the East, for there we could find masters and wise men fully immersed in this dimension and who were capable of showing us the way.
How did you find the masters with whom you studied music?
The great masters of Indian music came regularly to teach in California in the sixties, seventies and eighties. It was a sort of creative Mecca on many levels of life: artistic, scientific and spiritual. Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan and Nikhil Banerjee, to mention the most famous even lived close to Santa Cruz where I had made my home. I took lessons with several musicians, and bit by bit, better discerned what I needed so as to deepen my approach. I learnt the art and technique of many instruments: mainly sitar, santur and tabla. I did not do it in the traditional way in which a student finds his master and then pursues his studies with that one person. My approach was much broader in that I did not limit myself to India but included the Persian tradition, and also those of Kashmir and Afghanistan in my training. Each time, at the right moment, the master I needed showed up in a most providential manner! My very first tabla teacher was Zakir Hussain, a prodigious young tabla player who was almost the same age as me. Over the years, I have also had the opportunity to study with one of the legendary masters of tabla, Gnan Prakash Ghosh and also with Mohamed Reza Lotfi, a phenomenal representative of the classical Iranian tradition.
What has been the central thread throughout your search?
A search for synthesis and universality, all the while respecting the specifics of each tradition or school. I search for a unified vision of these various systems which culminated in Mogul art, this exceptional mix of Indian, Persian, Afghani and Turkish culture. Beyond that it is the essence of music itself which fascinates me, the original vibration, the nâd of Indian mysticism. In fact it was the same desire for the whole and for transcendence that attracted me in the teachings of Sri Aurobindo.
The santur, my main instrument, is the central axis around which my quest has revolved. When I discovered it, in Kashmir, it was a revelation! I told myself “this instrument was made for me”, for it enabled me to bring together all my previous passions: the rhythms of my time as a drummer and the melody to which the East had given me the key. Studying this instrument in depth has lead me to explore all the cultures that use it in one form or another: cymbalum, hackbrett and even the harpsichord. My search for the crystalline sound I dreamed of had lead me to start making stringed instruments. Since then I have built all my santurs, both the Indian and Iranian ones. Transforming a piece of wood into an instrument is a fascinating alchemy, a dialogue with matter to extract a more and more beautiful and pure sound.
Is music your life’s path?
At first, music was cathartic for me. It provided me with an outlet for the emotions which would have strangled me if I had not had the opportunity to scream them out. It also gave me an identity. Then it was my sadhana, my life’s path that enabled me to go further, towards something sacred whose existence I had a fore-feeling of: humanity’s heritage that I can never possess, only serve, on the musical and spiritual planes. Music gives me access to non-separation, to dissolution in the infinite, so much more vast than I. In California everyone wants to do their own thing but this music doesn’t belong to anyone. You have to return to the source and dissolve into it so that nothing is left but the raga, the music, spirit. Each musician, each generation explores new elements in the raga, reveals its potential and its subtleties and thus participates in enriching it. To achieve this you must abide by very strict rules within which you learn to improvise, enter into the soul of the raga so that it can be heard in the world of space and time. This music opens people’s hearts and leads to the most incredible connections being made on both an individual and a collective level. It is through this music that I connect the best with others and with the world.
You live in Switzerland. How did you end up in Europe?
In 1989, I was invited to teach at the Conservatory in Rotterdam. Through a friend I met Yvan Amar who I immediately connected with. As a result I came to France and through him met my wife Liliane who I have lived with in Geneva for more than 15 years now. Yvan was an unforgettable friend and a marvellous guide. We were united in our love of “Mother India” who was an initiator and a taskmaster for us both. Yvan knew how to find the common ground of all religions by returning to their common roots. Thus we shared the same vision of unity that exits behind all authentic traditions.
Is the fact that you are a westerner who specializes in eastern music an advantage or a handicap?
As a westerner initially it is difficult penetrating the music circles where this music is transmitted. Getting them to recognize that you are worthy of receiving the true teaching of the gharana which is transmitted within a family lineage, is a huge challenge. Masters open enough to accept foreign students are rare and I had to patiently prove to them just how sincere I was in my quest and my studies before they would take me seriously.
Once you have mastered a certain level of expertise the next difficulty to be overcome lies with fellow westerners who believe that to master a raga you have to be an Indian musician. Concert organizers systematically favour an oriental artist even if his playing is inferior. Sometimes it is extremely frustrating! In classical western music, there are great artists from Japan and New Zealand and it never so much as crosses anybody’s mind that they need to be German to play Beethoven, or Italian to sing Verdi. Not so long ago, if you played jazz but weren’t black, nobody would take you seriously. Things will eventually change in oriental classical music but for the moment, the idea that a foreigner could grasp the essence and the nature of it is far from a reality!
This reminds me of a rather funny story. In 2002, I played in a Festival of Sacred music in Fez with a group from Afghanistan -l’Ensemble Kaboul. The following day, Arnaud Desjardins who was one of the guests of honour, presented his film about the sufis of Afghanistan. When he came over to tell me how much he had appreciated the music the day before, he was astounded to learn that I was American! My blue eyes and my light skin colour lead him to tell his wife that I must be a descendant of one of the soldiers of Alexander the Great who had stayed behind!
However there are advantages to being a foreigner: you can go straight to the heart of these musical traditions without being restricted by their cultural practices. In this way I enjoyed a freedom that I would never have known had I been either Indian or Iranian. I was thus able to access the essential elements of several musical traditions without being held back by the rigidity of caste or convention.
The last CD you recorded with Pandit Nayan Ghosh bears the title “Ragas for Serenity”. Can a raga lead one to serenity?
For this CD, we chose classical pieces and played them in an introspective and meditative mode. From the very first time I heard it I was struck by the fact that this music can centre you and induce an inner peace, if you listen to it attentively and if of course the players themselves are in a state of harmony and unity. The raga has the power to lead you to the centre of yourself and beyond. Over the centuries I believe it has become a sort of archetype causing the cosmic energy that it evokes to resonate, rather like a mantra.
The raga is a sort of meditation that can be very therapeutic. For example, after a hard day’s work my wife often asks me to play for her. This allows her to leave the days tensions behind and return to openness and presence. My cousin Gérard relaxes just like a happy, contented baby and falls asleep! Shanti, our little dog, is my most loyal listener. At home, as soon as I start practicing, he comes and settles in my lap with his head close to the strings: being in the vibration of the instrument totally calms him down.
When the musicians are completely transparent, absorbed in their music, an attentive audience easily communes with them and the quality of their listening reinforces this communion. My dear friend Nayan is one of the most talented and refined musicians I know. There is great depth and subtlety in his playing. It is a great pleasure and an honour for me to play with him.
You are a performer, but you also teach. How do you transmit the musical traditions that you have studied?
I am very loyal to the traditional spirit of my teachers, but at the same time I have developed my own systematic and progressive teaching method. In India you live surrounded by this music for several years before you start studying its structure. This is particularly true because most of the time this art is taught to members of the family. And then you can spend days and even weeks perfecting a single note! With students who come once a week you have to go about it in a different way. I have been teaching at the Ateliers d’Ethnomusicologie of Geneva since 2003. I have roughly 20 students who study various instruments and traditions with me, some of them since I arrived. I love sharing my passion and I find the personal relationship with my students to be very enriching. Indeed it forces me to be very clear and simple so as to get straight to the basics. I am very happy with the progress made by those who are able to play with enthusiasm and sincerity. It is very moving to be a link in this chain of thousands of musicians who have kept this music alive over the centuries.
Today, after studying and practicing these musical traditions for more than 35 years, what inspires you the most?
Nowadays as always, I am constantly looking for the magic of the perfect sound: the one that allows you to resonate with the universe. I also would like to bring life back to the old schools of teaching which taught more sober and interiorized methods! When some of the great masters of the past played just a single note, it could be so soulful that it immediately plunged you into an inner plenitude.
I make santurs and I repair old instruments of exceptional quality, mostly sitars and surbahars that are part of the family of long necked lutes. I try to bring them back to life, to recover their individual personality. In this process, the bridge (jivari) is the essential element and it must be adjusted with great finesse. This requires trial and error with a lot of coming and going between the instrument and the workbench to obtain the perfect timbre. Sometimes it takes months!

Presentation by Laurent Aubert (2010)
Laurent Aubert, Ph.D in Anthropology, Curator of the Ethnomusicology Department at the Ethnography Museum of Geneva. Founder and Director of ADEM - Les Ateliers d’Ethnomusicologie de Genève and General Secretary of the International Archives of Popular Music.
Paul Grant is an exceptional musician in more ways than one: for more than 30 years, his musical quest has taken him to many Oriental destinations, to countries such as India and Iran that he has adopted as his own. Equally at ease playing a Hindustani raga as he is a Persian radif, he is also an expert at playing Kashmiri and Afghani folk music.
Everywhere he goes, his high standards lead him to the old masters, who have shared their most closely guarded, treasured secrets with him. Whether it is on sitar, on santur, on the tanbur or on tablas his musical ability reflects the exacting teachings he has received, enhanced by an inspiring musical clarity.
However Paul is not content with simply being a gifted musician: he also builds and restores instruments, thus bringing back to life instruments we thought would never be heard again. Attentive to the esthetics of timbre and melodious flow, he enables us to once again experience the splendid, intimate music of the courtyards and villages of the East.
Presentation by Pandit Nayan Ghosh (2010)
By Pandit Nayan Ghosh – internationally known Indian Tabla and Sitar maestro. Son and disciple of the late ‘Padma Bhushan’ Pandit Nikhil Ghosh, revered tabla wizard and Guru and nephew of the legendary flautist Pannalal Ghosh, the pioneer of the Bansuri – Indian bamboo flute. Nayan is presently the Director of India’s premier music academy Sangit Mahabharati founded by his father in Mumbai and also a Distinguished Guest Professor at IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Mumbai.
"My lovely friend, PAUL-BABU"
Talking about or writing about dear Paul Grant gives me immense pleasure. Paul Babu as I affectionately address him is a very unusually deep and learned musician and a warm human being, at times childlike.
Having known him since almost a decade now, I have understood that he is one of those rare Western musicians who has plumbed the depths of Indian classical music, Kashmiri Sufiyana and Persian music.
Not only having spent years of study with able masters, but having assimilated the musical repertoire that he has over the years gathered and given his own sensitive interpretations to it, he stands out as a highly qualified artiste today.
Talking specifically of his santoor performances, I realise the extensively individualistic style that he has today acquired for himself, giving the santoor art a distinct aesthetic coating of Hindustani, Kashmiri and Persian flavours well-fused into a unique ‘Paul Grant idiom’. This is exactly what makes Paul a very unique and important musician. I am struck by the way he has chosen to express raga performance through extremely subtle use of Persian stroke-craft and the octave dynamics to the best artistic extent possible. What with the very unique ringing and wholesome sound of his very own santoors that he has so carefully made with his own hands and nurtured its growth over the years. His research on the instrument and its unique sound has been a constant effort and mission for him. Likewise it applies to all the beautiful other instruments that he has carefully restored like a few unusual Indian sitars of the 19th century which sound so warm and musical as much as with the Afghan tanburs and the Persian sehtars.
Another admirable aspect is his command on the tabla, with a large repertoire that bears the marked stamp of tradition. The influence of Ustad Ahmedjan Thirakwa, Gurudev Jnan Prakash Ghosh and Ustad Habibuddin Khan show clearly in his playing of the tabla, which in itself is a rare phenomenon in these days when the tabla art has altogether taken a different direction in its journey of evolution.
I can only wish Paul a long life, great health and plenty of music and happiness.
17th May, 2010, Geneva.
Presentation by John Baily (2014)Dr John Baily is Emeritus Professor of Ethnomusicology and Head of the Afghanistan Music Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. Born in Glastonbury, Somerset, he read Psychology and Physiology at the University of Oxford, has a D.Phil. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Sussex, a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology (Ethnomusicology) from The Queen’s University of Belfast and is also a graduate in documentary film making from the National Film and Television School. He has held ethnomusicology teaching positions at The Queen’s University of Belfast, Columbia University in New York, and Goldsmiths. His research is focused mainly on the music of Afghanistan, starting with two years’ fieldwork in Herat in the 1970s and continuing with research in the Afghan diaspora in Pakistan, Iran, USA, Europe and Australia.
Since 2001 he has visited Kabul seven times, where he set up a Tradition Bearers’ Music Programme on behalf of the Aga Khan Music Initiative for Central Asia. He has published several books and numerous articles, CDs and DVDs about the music of Afghanistan, and is currently finishing a monograph entitled War, Exile, and the Music of Afghanistan: The Ethnographer’s Tale, which brings together his work on Afghan music in the diaspora and in Afghanistan since 1985. He is an avid player of the Afghan rubab and one of his most frequently cited publications is ‘Learning to perform as a research technique in ethnomusicology’. British Journal of Ethnomusicology, 2001, 10(2): 85–98.
I first met Paul in Geneva in the year 2002, at an international festival and conference on the culture of Afghanistan, convened by the Musée d’Ethnographie – Ville de Genève. In those days Paul was a member of the Afghan music group Ensemble Kaboul, playing santur and sometimes sitar. Ensemble Kaboul gave a magnificent concert as part of the festival. The next day at a special luncheon for speakers and performers, I had the opportunity to sit with Paul and to talk at length about our common interests in the music of Afghanistan and of India, and of the historic connections between them. I discovered a kindred spirit, someone who was interested in older genres of classical music and the compositions that were associated with those genres. Paul was somebody who cared deeply about such matters, and had views on double gats and archaic patterns of developing jhala patterns on the sitar or surbahar.
In 2004 Paul invited me to Geneva for a recording session for Radio Suisse Romande, along with his friend and musical collaborator Nayan Ghosh, who plays sitar and tabla. He joined us from India. We stayed amidst the spiritual delights of Paul and his charming wife Liliane de Toledo’s apartment, filled with art works and musical instruments from India and the Middle East. Liliane is a gifted photographer and artist and it was a real delight and inspiration to be staying with them. In that milieu Paul and I started to combine Kashmiri santur and rubab. It was an instrumental piece in Rag Des that really brought us together. This kind of piece developed in the Kabul court between the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is an extended multi-part instrumental piece usually played by an ensemble at the start of a performance of music, to warm up the instruments, the musicians and the audience. The old name for such a piece was lariya. Rubab maestro Ustad Mohammad Omar made it a speciality for solo rubab under the name of naghma chahartuk, ‘four-part instrumental piece’, while Ustad Amir Jan Khushnawaz of Herat, from whom I learned many such compositions, called this type of piece a naghma-ye kashal (‘extended instrumental piece’). We took Amir Jan’s naghma in Des to work on as a duo and that piece really brought us together musically; it has become our signature tune, allowing for extensive use of rhythmic variations in the development of musical episodes. In the recording session for Radio Suisse Romande I also played solos on two-stringed dutar and fourteen-stringed dutar, and Paul also played Afghan tanbur, an instrument related to the sitar. All this showed the possibilities of an Afghani-Kashmiri interaction.
Some years later, when we were all a bit older, and hopefully wiser, Paul invited me to play at the celebration concert for his 60th birthday. This was an outdoor concert in the wonderful setting of Liliane’s parents’ home outside Geneva, on the large terrace facing a spacious park. We were one of several acts and the santur-rubab duet received an enthusiastic response. Again I stayed with Paul and Liliane and imbibed the spirit of their lives. It was again a moment for some rumination and reconfiguration, with lots of time for practice and rehearsal.
In 2013 we resumed our collaboration, this time with my wife Veronica Doubleday as part of the group. She is a fine singer of folk and popular songs from Herat, accompanying herself on the frame drum (daira), and her performances are much appreciated by Afghan audiences. On the basis of the success of another concert on the terrace we agreed to look for further opportunities to play together. The next opportunity is the Festival Poussière du Monde in Geneva on the the 6th of June. We shall be joined by the magnificent tabla player, Federico Sanesi, with whom Veronica and I have given concerts in Turin and Venice. We shall perform under the name of Paresh-e Jal , ‘The Flight of the Lark’, an instrumental piece that Paul and I play together on santur and rubab.
Paul’s and my collaboration is based on a love of the music we perform together, and have individually dedicated many years to its practice. Performing music can be a transcendental experience, and we seek to capture that spirit.
The morning ritual of Rumination and Reconfiguration. Paul’s early-morning tabla workout. I felt I was back in Kathmandu in 1970, with various expats learning classical music. It was like a morning puja.

Par Laurent Aubert (2010)
Laurent Aubert, docteur en anthropologie, conservateur du département d’ethnomusicologie du Musée d’Ethnographie de Genève. Fondateur et directeur des Ateliers d’Ethnomusicologie et secrétaire général des Archives Internationales de Musique Populaire.
Paul Grant est un musicien hors normes à plus d’un égard : depuis plus de trente cinq ans, sa quête musicale l’a conduit sur les chemins d’un Orient multiple, dans ces patries d’adoption que sont devenus pour lui des pays comme l’Inde ou l’Iran. Aussi à l’aise dans l’interprétation des râgas hindoustanis que dans celle du radif persan, il est également expert dans le jeu des mélodies populaires du Cachemire ou de l’Afghanistan.
En chaque lieu, sa démarche exigeante l’a conduit auprès des vieux maîtres, dont il a reçu les enseignements les plus jalousement gardés. Que ce soit au sitar, au santur, au tanbur ou aux tablas, ses qualités d’instrumentiste reflètent cet apprentissage exigeant, rehaussé par l’inspiration d’une musicalité lumineuse.
Mais Paul ne se contente pas d’être un interprète talentueux ; il est également luthier et restaurateur d’instruments, ce qui lui a permis de redonner vie à des instruments qu’on croyait à jamais voués au silence. Soucieux de l’esthétique des timbres et de l’articulation mélodique, il nous fait revivre les splendeurs musicales des cours et des villages de ses Orients intimes.
Par Pandit Nayan Ghosh (2010)
By Pandit Nayan Ghosh – internationally known Indian Tabla and Sitar maestro. Son and disciple of the late ‘Padma Bhushan’ Pandit Nikhil Ghosh, revered tabla wizard and Guru and nephew of the legendary flautist Pannalal Ghosh, the pioneer of the Bansuri – Indian bamboo flute. Nayan is presently the Director of India’s premier music academy Sangit Mahabharati founded by his father in Mumbai and also a Distinguished Guest Professor at IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Mumbai.
"My lovely friend, PAUL-BABU"
Talking about or writing about dear Paul Grant gives me immense pleasure. Paul Babu as I affectionately address him is a very unusually deep and learned musician and a warm human being, at times childlike.
Having known him since almost a decade now, I have understood that he is one of those rare Western musicians who has plumbed the depths of Indian classical music, Kashmiri Sufiyana and Persian music.
Not only having spent years of study with able masters, but having assimilated the musical repertoire that he has over the years gathered and given his own sensitive interpretations to it, he stands out as a highly qualified artiste today.
Talking specifically of his santoor performances, I realise the extensively individualistic style that he has today acquired for himself, giving the santoor art a distinct aesthetic coating of Hindustani, Kashmiri and Persian flavours well-fused into a unique ‘Paul Grant idiom’. This is exactly what makes Paul a very unique and important musician. I am struck by the way he has chosen to express raga performance through extremely subtle use of Persian stroke-craft and the octave dynamics to the best artistic extent possible. What with the very unique ringing and wholesome sound of his very own santoors that he has so carefully made with his own hands and nurtured its growth over the years. His research on the instrument and its unique sound has been a constant effort and mission for him. Likewise it applies to all the beautiful other instruments that he has carefully restored like a few unusual Indian sitars of the 19th century which sound so warm and musical as much as with the Afghan tanburs and the Persian sehtars.
Another admirable aspect is his command on the tabla, with a large repertoire that bears the marked stamp of tradition. The influence of Ustad Ahmedjan Thirakwa, Gurudev Jnan Prakash Ghosh and Ustad Habibuddin Khan show clearly in his playing of the tabla, which in itself is a rare phenomenon in these days when the tabla art has altogether taken a different direction in its journey of evolution.
I can only wish Paul a long life, great health and plenty of music and happiness.
17th May, 2010, Geneva.
Par John Baily (2014)Dr John Baily est Professeur Émérite d'Ethnomusicologie et Directeur de l'Unité Musique d'Afghanistan à Goldsmiths, Université de Londres. Né à Glastonbury, Somerset, il a étudié la psychologie et la physiologie à l'Université d'Oxford, a un doctorat en psychologie expérimentale de l'Université de Sussex, un doctorat en anthropologie sociale (Ethnomusicologie) de la Queen's University de Belfast et est également diplômé en réalisation de films documentaires de l'École nationale de cinéma et de télévision. Il a occupé des postes d'enseignement d'ethnomusicologie à l'Université de Belfast, à l'Université de Columbia à New York, et à Goldsmiths. Ses recherches portent principalement sur la musique de l'Afghanistan, à commencer par le travail sur le terrain de deux ans à Herat, dans les années 1970 et la poursuite de la recherche dans la diaspora afghane au Pakistan, Iran, États-Unis, en Europe et en Australie.Depuis 2001, il a visité Kaboul sept fois, où il a créé le Programme "Tradition Bearers’ Music" au nom de l'Initiative Aga Khan pour la musique en Asie centrale. Il a publié plusieurs livres et de nombreux articles, des CD et des DVD sur la musique de l'Afghanistan, et est en train de terminer une monographie intitulée "War, Exile, and the Music of Afghanistan: The Ethnographer’s Tale", qui réunit son travail sur la musique afghane dans la diaspora et en Afghanistan depuis 1985. Il est un joueur assidu du rubab afghan et une de ses publications les plus fréquemment cités est «Learning to perform as a research technique in ethnomusicology". British Journal of Ethnomusicology, 2001, 10(2): 85–98.I first met Paul in Geneva in the year 2002, at an international festival and conference on the culture of Afghanistan, convened by the Musée d’Ethnographie – Ville de Genève. In those days Paul was a member of the Afghan music group Ensemble Kaboul, playing santur and sometimes sitar. Ensemble Kaboul gave a magnificent concert as part of the festival. The next day at a special luncheon for speakers and performers, I had the opportunity to sit with Paul and to talk at length about our common interests in the music of Afghanistan and of India, and of the historic connections between them. I discovered a kindred spirit, someone who was interested in older genres of classical music and the compositions that were associated with those genres. Paul was somebody who cared deeply about such matters, and had views on double gats and archaic patterns of developing jhala patterns on the sitar or surbahar.
In 2004 Paul invited me to Geneva for a recording session for Radio Suisse Romande, along with his friend and musical collaborator Nayan Ghosh, who plays sitar and tabla. He joined us from India. We stayed amidst the spiritual delights of Paul and his charming wife Liliane de Toledo’s apartment, filled with art works and musical instruments from India and the Middle East. Liliane is a gifted photographer and artist and it was a real delight and inspiration to be staying with them. In that milieu Paul and I started to combine Kashmiri santur and rubab. It was an instrumental piece in Rag Des that really brought us together. This kind of piece developed in the Kabul court between the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is an extended multi-part instrumental piece usually played by an ensemble at the start of a performance of music, to warm up the instruments, the musicians and the audience. The old name for such a piece was lariya. Rubab maestro Ustad Mohammad Omar made it a speciality for solo rubab under the name of naghma chahartuk, ‘four-part instrumental piece’, while Ustad Amir Jan Khushnawaz of Herat, from whom I learned many such compositions, called this type of piece a naghma-ye kashal (‘extended instrumental piece’). We took Amir Jan’s naghma in Des to work on as a duo and that piece really brought us together musically; it has become our signature tune, allowing for extensive use of rhythmic variations in the development of musical episodes. In the recording session for Radio Suisse Romande I also played solos on two-stringed dutar and fourteen-stringed dutar, and Paul also played Afghan tanbur, an instrument related to the sitar. All this showed the possibilities of an Afghani-Kashmiri interaction.
Some years later, when we were all a bit older, and hopefully wiser, Paul invited me to play at the celebration concert for his 60th birthday. This was an outdoor concert in the wonderful setting of Liliane’s parents’ home outside Geneva, on the large terrace facing a spacious park. We were one of several acts and the santur-rubab duet received an enthusiastic response. Again I stayed with Paul and Liliane and imbibed the spirit of their lives. It was again a moment for some rumination and reconfiguration, with lots of time for practice and rehearsal.
In 2013 we resumed our collaboration, this time with my wife Veronica Doubleday as part of the group. She is a fine singer of folk and popular songs from Herat, accompanying herself on the frame drum (daira), and her performances are much appreciated by Afghan audiences. On the basis of the success of another concert on the terrace we agreed to look for further opportunities to play together. The next opportunity is the Festival Poussière du Monde in Geneva on the the 6th of June. We shall be joined by the magnificent tabla player, Federico Sanesi, with whom Veronica and I have given concerts in Turin and Venice. We shall perform under the name of Paresh-e Jal , ‘The Flight of the Lark’, an instrumental piece that Paul and I play together on santur and rubab.
Paul’s and my collaboration is based on a love of the music we perform together, and have individually dedicated many years to its practice. Performing music can be a transcendental experience, and we seek to capture that spirit.
The morning ritual of Rumination and Reconfiguration. Paul’s early-morning tabla workout. I felt I was back in Kathmandu in 1970, with various expats learning classical music. It was like a morning puja.

Sitar

Tabla

Kashmiri Santur (Indian Santur)
The santur is a type of zither played by striking the strings with delicate wooden mallets or mizrabs.
It consists of a hollow wooden body in trapezoid form and has as many as a 100 strings.
It is an ancient instrument related to the family of harps of Asia and is found mostly in Iran and Kashmir.
It is considered to be the ancestor of the cymbalum, the harpsichord and the piano.
The two instruments for the recording of “Ragas for Serentity” were designed and built by Paul.

Herati Dotar (Afghanistan)
The herati dotar is a member of the family of long-necked lutes of Afghanistan. It has 14 metal strings.
The melody is played on one main string, while all the others are sympathetic strings.

Surbahar (India)
This is the largest of the North Indian lutes. It is a member of the family of instruments called kechwa, or tortoise because of the round and flat shape of the body similar to this animal’s shell.
It possesses a deep and rich tone that has a long sustain. It is ideal for the interpretation of the more slow and contemplative repertoire.

Tabla (India)
The tabla is the most popular and versatile percussion instrument of North India.
It consists of a pair of drums: a large made of metal called bayan and a smaller one of wood called dayan.
Both are covered with goat skins and played with the fingers and palms.
A black patch, the shayee, made of iron or stone powder is adhered to the surface of the skin. This permits precise tuning, a long sustain, and the production of a wide range of sounds.

Sitar (India)
The sitar is perhaps the best known and most popular of all Indian instruments. It comes from a family of long-necked lutes which includes the setar of Iran, the tanbur of Afghanistan and the Indian veena.
The body is made from a gourd and has as many 20 strings: 7 main ones and between 11 and 13 sympathetic ones which produce the harmonic echo that is so characteristic of the Indian sound.
The instrument pictured here is a very old one (more common in the 19th century). It is smaller and does not have any sympathetic strings.

Santur
Out of necessity, I started making my own santurs
The santur, my main instrument, is the central axis around which my quest has revolved. When I discovered it, in Kashmir, it was a revelation! I told myself “this instrument was made for me”, for it enabled me to bring together all my previous passions: the rhythms of my time as a drummer and the melody to which the East had given me the key. Today, the art of santur making is almost lost and finding good quality instruments is difficult. So as to achieve the crystalline sound I dreamed of I had to start making stringed instruments myself. Since then I have built all my santurs, both the Indian and Iranian ones. Transforming a piece of wood into a musical instrument is a fascinating alchemy, a dialogue with matter to extract a more and more beautiful and pure sound.
The sound of my instruments is exceptional and envied by many musicians worldwide! However, I have to admit, I never trained as a professional instrument maker so I have to immerse myself totally in the creation of each individual instrument. Were I to count the hours spent on each santur no one would ever be able to afford them!
Sitars and other instruments
Again out of necessity, I have learnt to repair sitars, tablas and other instruments, both for my students and myself. Old and rare instruments always fascinate me. Luck has often smiled on me leading me to find instruments in the most unexpected of places.
Nowadays as always, I am constantly looking for the magic of the perfect sound: the one that allows you to resonate with the universe. I make santurs and I repair old instruments of exceptional quality, mostly sitars and surbahars that are part of the family of long necked lutes. I try to bring them back to life, to recover their individual personality. In this process, the bridge (jivari) is the essential element and it must be adjusted with great finesse. This requires trial and error with a lot of coming and going between the instrument and the workbench to obtain the perfect timbre. Sometimes it takes months!

Individual classes — Sitar
— Tabla
— Kashmiri (Indian) Santur
— Iranian (Persian) Santur
— Introduction to the classical music of North India
Length of basic class: 60 min
Cost: CHF 70.-
Group ClassesAdvanced students can benefit greatly from taking classes in a group, where for example a sitar student and a tabla student would have the opportunity to develop the art of dialogue and accompaniment.
Lentgth of basic class: 60 min
Cost: CHF 100.- for 2 people
Intensive classesIntensive classes can be arranged upon request either as an individual introduction to Indian music or the art and technique of a particular instrument.
Length: 2 days of 5 hours each for a total of 10 hours.
Cost: CHF 500.- including meals and lodgings.
NB: Other arrangements can be made for intensive classes, depending on individual needs.

LUCIE, SITAR PLAYER
“My love of India began at the tender age of 17 when I had a fabulous opportunity to study yoga with one of Southern India’s great masters of yoga. From that point on, I knew I wanted to know more about this captivating country. Many years later, on my first trip to India, I was totally immersed in a world of music and dance, and ended up making a decision, laden with consequences... I launched into studying classical North Indian dance and Hindustani music.
Thanks to the ADEM Ethnomusicology Workshop in Geneva, I met Paul Grant whose authentic and extensive knowledge in these subjects fascinated me from the outset. I have been taking sitar lessons with Paul for many years now and greatly appreciate his patience, knowledge, humour and puns that never fall on deaf ears for I am a trained linguist.
It is thanks to people as special as Paul that North Indian Classical music is being faithfully transmitted.”
SÉBASTIEN, SITAR PLAYER
“My initiation into North Indian music started in 1995 with Paul Grant with whom I took up the sitar. Ever since, I have continued my studies with him. As an adjunct I have also taken tabla lessons with him. This has greatly helped me to better understand how to play the sitar with an accompaniment. I feel really lucky to have a teacher who has such a global vision of this music and brings this to the fore in his teachings.
Not long ago, I started studying an instrument which is now quite rare, the dilruba, and whose repertoire is inspired by vocal music. Sister to the esraj, which is the Bengali equivalent, it originated in the Punjab. It is a fiddle played with a bow that has a sarangi body and a sitar neck. Even though Paul plays many instruments, he does not play this particular one, however he is very capable in guiding me in this venture. In this he is totally true to the Indian tradition of “Guru-Shishaya Parampara” in which for example a teacher, who is a master of the sarod can teach a sitar player, or a master of rudra vina will teach a surbahar player...
One of the wonderful discoveries I have made with my “Guruji” is that Hindustani music, globally speaking, has a common denominator in its melodic aspect. And that common denominator is the human voice. Seeing as the subject is so vast, studying over the years with the same teacher is of great value in deepening one’s immersion in this music, all the while maintaining one’s focus.
Another point that strikes me as particularly interesting is that Paul is a westerner who has successfully integrated the cultures of South and Central Asia by totally dedicating himself to the study of oriental music for many years. In my opinion, he has built “bridges” of understanding, cut “pathways” into the world of Indian music, that his students hugely gain from, much more so than if they had had to do it for themselves.”
JEAN-PAUL, SITAR PLAYER
“Indian music is to the soul what water is to life.”
“Indian music is a source of elevation. Its very ancient origins go back beyond time, when the gods taught it to human beings. It has evolved, over the centuries, due to the influence of many great musicians and has been enriched, in particular by Persian and Arabian music.
After having met several music teachers, both in India and in the West, I can whole-heartedly say that Paul Grant’s teaching is of a very high standard. Indian music is a vast subject with a large improvisational aspect which makes it particularly challenging to teach.
Results are not immediate and it requires several months of perseverance before you feel the full benefits. Studying this music is a journey which is quite the opposite of our modern lifestyle where we expect we can have everything right away!
Many thanks to Paul Grant for his patience and high standard of teaching. His extensive knowledge in lute making enables him to bring out the best sound quality in each and every instrument thus approaching the perfect sound. I would also like to recognize Sri Mataji Nirmala Devi who allowed me to discover this universe beyond the mind.”
HENRI, TABLA STUDENT
“I began my studies of tabla in 2006, and Paul’s lessons have opened me to the incredibly rich musical traditions of India. Being a drummer, I was really interested to discover the complex rhythms of this instrument. Also, accentuating listening and dialogue during the lessons has allowed me to develop a greater sensibility to world music. It is a pleasure to be able to play this instrument as I accompany Paul on the sitar in such a warm context!”
JACQUES, SITAR STUDENT
The origins and power of being in love.
“Speak to me of your first loves, of those moments that infuse us and, suddenly are sometimes forgotten. Those thousands of occasions that allow us to discover something so totally different.
After the (temporary) disappearance of gramophones that you had to wind up with a handle, the first LPs appeared and although they were expensive they could be listened to again and again. Thus I began listening more attentively to music because, –quite the opposite to the radio which was all too soon over and too fleeting- I could play them to my heart’s content. I still have not forgotten my first LPs: Tchaikovsky’s 6th symphony and Bartok’s music for percussion and celesta.
In June 1958, a friend lent me the LP “Indian Music, UNESCO collection, Moinuddin and Amnuddin Dagar”. Needless to say I was totally captivated: the origins and the power of being in love! At this time LPs of Indian music were rare, almost impossible to find. At the Museum of Man (Paris), several instruments of Indian music could be seen in a dusty show case. The years went by... until the first concerts by Ravi Shankar, followed by the acquisition of a sitar: my relationship with it consisted of touching it, feeling its weight, the various materials it was made of... pulling on the strings so as to bring forth sounds lost amongst those imagined. I wondered whether God existed or not. And totally at a loss, kept it as a decorative object.
A few more years went by and I bought an empty sitar case in a secondhand shop for 5 francs. What a miracle the sitar now had a transportable bed to lie in and protect it from the dust.
But what was all this leading to?
I was awaiting a miracle. Surely a God who had introduced me to Tchaikovsky could not possibly abandon me midstream!
Can you guess what is to follow?
I met Paul in 1994! And he knew how to tune a sitar, how to repair it, how marvellous! And also transmit all that must follow: transform a life, answer multitudes of questions, offer his patience so that a rusty old key can work once again and little by little the time of the ragas has become more important than that of any clock. Thus accompanied, my soul marvels at the dawn as it travels through the days and nights.”
CHRISTIAN, SANTUR STUDENT
“I first discovered Indian music in the company of the sitarist Krishna Bhat on a trip to India a little more than 25 years ago. Immediately subjugated by this ancient tradition and its ability to transmit a wide range of the most subtle feelings and emotions, I was struck to discover that it was largely based on improvisation which implied that it particularly stressed the listening to and transmission of states brought on as much by inner feelings as by the time of day. The fact that it is traditionally played in an informal and intimate setting seemed to specially favour its evocative nature.
On returning to Switzerland, a large selection of records enabled me to become more familiar with the rhythmic combinations, musical modes and ornamentations characteristic of Indian music, as well as the creativity of its composition and elaboration. Thus I discovered musicians such as Ustad Sultan Khan on sarangi and Shivkumar Sharma on santur. I particularly appreciated the combination of crystalline sound and the rhythms evoked by the striking of the strings of the latter, and I fell in love with it.
Many years later, I discovered the ADEM - Ateliers d’Ethnomusicologie in Geneva and in particular their offer of classes, amongst others in learning the santur. I immediately contacted Paul and was thus at last able to see this instrument, which had held me in its thrall for so long, at close range. This convinced me to take up studying how to play it.
Since 2002 I regularly take the train -destination Geneva- so as to benefit from Paul’s teaching and appreciate his extreme kindness. However it is a much more important journey I make each week, for it transports me back to India, far from my daily life, and allows me to discover the incredible richness of Indian music.”
JÖELLE, TABLA STUDENT
It was as I was approaching 50 that the idea took hold to study tabla, not that I knew anything about rhythm or classical Indian music.
Needless to say that it required tremendous patience and courage on Paul’s part to meet such a challenge, even if at our very first meeting he told me it was never too late to learn to play an instrument well !
I thus set out on this great adventure – for that is exactly what it is- with a lot of determination and passion in spite of the enormity of the task... which I very quickly became aware of.
Paul is an inexhaustible source of knowledge on repertoires, instruments, the history of classical music and its masters. His immense knowledge thus opened me to a world until then totally unknown. A natural result of which was that I became a fervent attendee at concerts and festivals which greatly enriched me musically but also introduced me to a whole new circle of friends and acquaintances which lead to some very interesting musical experiences.
Paul also gave me the opportunity, as he does for all his students, the privilege of taking workshops with great masters such as Anindo Chatterjee or Nayan Ghosh, followed by private concerts of a very high standard which will remain forever engraved in my memory.
Having participated for several years now, I will conclude by stating that I have never for a single moment regretted having embarked upon such a journey. Having said that, I am fully aware of my limitations, especially when it comes to the speed at which I play, but I so enjoy it and that is what really matters.”
PASCAL, STUDENT OF HINDUSTANI MUSIC
I have always loved sounds that come from afar which allow me to access other dimensions of being. I am particularly sensitive when listening to instruments such as the santur, sitar or tanpura. I find that these instruments offer a depth and create an atmosphere which is particularly conducive to meditation because of their harmonic richness.
Being left-handed made it very difficult to find one of these instruments in the 80s. So for many years I played with open tunings in an attempt to approximate their sounds, hoping all the while that one day I could take this a stage further. Finally this opportunity showed up when I took part in a workshop which was an initiation into classical Indian music. And this is how I met Paul when he gave his very first workshop in Geneva in 1994, organised by ADEM.
This meeting was a turning point for me, for Paul’s extensive knowledge allowed me to connect two forms of musical expression, as much on the level of traditional oriental music as in lute making. What I had always thought of as a handicap to my exploration now became an opportunity, for out of this restriction a new instrument was born –a hybrid between a guitar and a sitar- which allowed me to use my technique as a guitar player, all the while enlarging my sound spectrum and thus rediscover these tonalities evoking an inner journey.
Today, after 15 or so years of work and experimentation –during which the time invested varied dependant on other events in my life- the instrument, a sort of “guitarveena” is almost finished. With the addition of the sympathetic strings and two Indian bridges -jivari- it now produces the rich harmonic sounds characteristic of Indian music.
This journey both into the creation of a new instrument and the exploration of its potential could not have happened without Paul’s collaboration and participation. His knowledge, his openness and his interest were determining factors in the success of this project.”
MICHÈLE, TABLA STUDENT
“Studying to play the tabla, since the end of February 2009, is a dream come true for me. A dream I’ve always had or at least have had since the time, many moons ago, when I first heard Indian music which touched me and resonated in me like no other music ever has.
Of course the difficulty was in getting down to doing it, knowing that I had not the slightest idea about music. Even though I know full well that I will never be a musician, I try to apply myself as much as I possibly can in the hope of “getting to know” this instrument.
I am really happy to be able to rely on Paul who guides me in my studies, proffering advice and encouragement.
A big thank you to him for his patience many times put to the test!”
JOCELYN AND DAMIEN, ANGERS (49) MAINE-ET-LOIRE (France)
An exceptional meeting!
It is a great pleasure to learn the art of classical Indian music with Paul. He has an approach, which is very pedagogic and systematic and a lot of humor. He loves to share his passion.
A big thank you to Paul.

Contact et infos :
To be added to the Mailing List announcing future concerts in The Music Room, please send a request by Email at:
contact@paulgrant.net

Each time a musician friend passes through Geneva, Paul and his wife Liliane de Toledo organize intimate “at home” concerts similar to The Music Rooms of the past.
Places are limited so we highly recommend you book your seat as soon as the concert is announced.

ENCOUNTER WITH INDIA AND KASHMIR
In 1972, my encounter with India changed my life and lead me on a musical journey which was more introspective than rock music, rhythm and blues or jazz which I had known up until that point.
The following year, on my second trip to this country, and more precisely to Kashmir, I discovered the santur which has become my main concert instrument. I immediately fell in love with this instrument which allowed me to perfectly marry rhythm and melody.
I have stayed several times in Kashmir to study the art and technique of the santur and the traditional music of the area. The santur rapidly became the cornerstone of my research in the musical field. I have studied the traditional music of all the countries in which it plays an important role: India, Persia and Kashmir. Later, the study of Afghani music enabled me to complete my knowledge of the history and rhythmic and melodious possibilities of the santur. This multi-cultural approach is a distinctive feature of the musical vision which has inspired me all my life.
THE SANTUR
The santur is played by striking the strings and belongs to a family of ancient harps from central Asia. It consists of a trapezoidal box made of wood, considered to be the ancestor of the cymbalum and the modern piano. Groups of four strings, tuned in unison, are struck with delicate hammers –mizrab- made of wood. Each group produces a specific note which is crystalline and rich in harmonics and has a long sustain.
Traditionally, the Kashmiri santur is made of mulberry wood, is strung with 100 strings and is used to play various classical repertoires: Kashmiri maquam or sufyana kalam (a mystical and poetic mode), Hindustani raga, and traditional folk and popular music of North India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The spectrum of sound of the santur with its natural echo and unique resonance is unequalled.
MY CURRENT PROJECTS IN KASHMIR
In 2008, I returned to Kashmir after a 20 year absence -due to the turmoil the region underwent which made travelling there very dangerous- to pick up my studies of Kashmiri music. I love this repertoire which just like the Mogul culture is both unique and the result of the exchanges between the various traditions that I have studied over the years: India, Persia and Afghanistan.
Today, classical Kashmiri music is threatened with extinction. Most of the old masters have passed away and have no successors. The man who introduced me to the tradition of sufyana kalam –Ustad Ghulam Muhammad Saaz-Nawaz- died early in 2014. However his sons and one of his grandsons continue to transmit his knowledge, thus keeping the family musical traditional and lineage alive.
Fortunately, collaboration with Laurent Aubert bore fruit in the form of a CD entitled “Cachemire, le Sufiana Klalam de Srinagar” for the ethnomusicology collection of the Musée d’Ethnographie de Genève before the death of my master – Ustad Ghukam Muhammad Saaz Nawaz. Further CDs are in the works covering other facets of Kashmiri music.

Sound recordings: Renaud Millet-Lacombe, Srinagar, 4-5 july 2010
Notes: Laurent Aubert, with the collaboration of Paul Grant
English translation : Isabel Ollivier
Photographs : Liliane de Tolédo
Editing and mastering : Renaud Millet-Lacombe
Special thanks : Mushtaq Ahmad Sāznavāz, Kaiser Sāznavāz, Shahid Ahmed Khanyari, Rehmatullah Khan, Raja Inayatullah, Mohammad Shāfi Bhat and family, Paul Grant, Liliane de Tolédo
Music and Sufism in Kashmir
Connoisseurs agree that sūfyāna kalām, also known as sūfyāna mūsīqī, can be regarded as the classical musical tradition of Kashmir. It is an independent scholarly art which goes back at least to the eighteenth century. Although it has obvious historical links with Persian and Hindustani musical traditions, sūfyāna kalām nonetheless has significant features which distinguish it from the music of its two great neighbours.
The term sūfyāna kalām literally means “Sufi speech” which shows, firstly, that it is essentially vocal music and, secondly, that it is closely linked to the context of Sufism or Islamic spirituality. Its repertory includes vocal and instrumental pieces, centered on the singing of mystic poems.
Initially intended for the urban elites of the Srinagar Valley, this music is traditionally played during all-night sessions called mehfil, during which music-lovers, often a spiritual master (pīr, shaykh) and his followers, gather to meditate on the sense of the poems and experience the enchanting beauty
of the voices and the timbres of the instruments.
There is evidence of Sufism in Kashmir in the late thirteenth century, a time when several orders from Persia and Central Asia spread there. The most widespread in Kashmir are the Suhravardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qādiriyya, Kubraviyya and Naqshbandiyya. But there are other Sufi orders, like one called Rishī (from the Sanskrit rsi, which means a person who is at once a poet, a minstrel, a seer and a hermit), founded in Kashmir by Shaykh Nūr ad-Dīn Nūrānī (1377-1438), a sage on friendly terms with Buddhist and Hindu mystics. His correspondence with the famous poetess Lallā, a Shaivite ascetic, shows what a powerful inspiration they were for one another. His mausoleum (dargah), at Charar-i-Sharīf, in the hills about thirty kilometres from Srinagar, is still one of the great centres of Kashmiri Sufism, and mehfil are often held in the vicinity.
A practice often associated with Sufi methods is samā‘, which could be translated as “mystic hearing”; the mehfil is a typical example. But not all orders use poetry and music: some, such as the Suhravardiyya, prefer to concentrate on silent invocation and meditation; others, particularly the Chishtiyya and Qādiriyya orders, to which most sūfyāna kalām musicians belong, have always considered poetry and music to be an irreplaceable source of inspiration, following the teaching of the great Sufi master Nizām ud-Dīn Auliya (1238-1325) – whose tomb in Delhi still draws numerous pilgrims –, who proclaimed that “music is the food of the soul.”
Sūfyāna kalām music
Sūfyāna kalām has two basic components: muqām, for the melody, and tāl or tāla, for the metrics and rhythm. It is important to note that, although these terms are found in other
musical cultures, muqām and tāl as used in sūfyāna kalām are unique to it, even if links can be found with the musical systems of Persia, Central Asia and North India in particular. The technical vocabulary of sūfyāna kalām borrows from these various traditions and the names of muqām played in sūfyāna kalām often correspond to those in Arab or Persian maqām or to North Indian rāga, although they do not share the same melodic characteristics.
The word muqām (of Arabic origin, literally ‘station’) firstly refers to a melodic mode, with a number of hierarchic steps, modules, melodic phrases and typical ornaments, like the rāga in Indian art music. But the term is also applied to the corpus of musical and poetic compositions in a given mode, and to the pieces selected from this repertory for the performance of a vocal and instrumental suite. The word muqām (maqām, makam, mughām, maqōm, etc.) has both meanings in other musical traditions in the Islamic world, in which the art of the musical suite is highly prized.
Like North Indian rāga, Kashmiri muqām, of which there are fifty-four, are allotted to a particular time of the day or night; this rule follows a principle of subtle correspondences between the ‘character’ attributed to the various modes and the atmosphere proper to each moment of the day.
Some treatises make a link between the main muqām and the five elements (fire, air, earth, water and wind or ether), the constellations of the Zodiac, prophets mentioned in the Koran and the sounds made by certain animals.
Ustad Ghūlam Mohammad Sāznavāz explains that several muqām are held to have special therapeutic powers: Husaynī is believed to be effective against cardiac disorders; Rahāvī is thought to cure some forms of paralysis. If a muqām is performed in the proper way, he adds, it will be efficacious and will generate a special hāl (spiritual state) in the performers and audience. However, although the principle of these correspondences is unanimously accepted in sūfyāna kalām circles, specialists do not always agree on the attributions and powers that each muqām is credited with.
The tāl used in sūfyāna kalām are cyclic metric structures with a set periodicity, each one with a fixed number of time units (mātra), divided into sections and articulated in a particular way depending on the tāl being played. The first beat of the tāl, usually accented, is called supurd, “rest”, and the unaccented “empty” beat (khali), is known as wakaf. Fourteen tāl are in common use in sūfyāna kalām, the main ones being: Turkī zarb (5 beats: 2+3), Chapāndāz (6 beats: 1+2+3), Fakhra zarb (7 beats: 3+4), Dōyeka (8 or 16 beats: 2+2+2+2 or 4+4+4+4), Yekatāla (12 beats: 4+4+4), Sētāla (12 beats: 3+3+3+3) and Dūrōya (14 beats: 3+4+3+4).
One feature of certain tāl in sūfyāna kalām is their heterochrony, meaning that the time units are of uneven duration. So, in the Chapāndāz (tracks 1c and 6b), beats 1 and 4 are of a slightly longer value than the others, while in Fakhra zarb, beats 3, 6, 9 and 12 are lengthened. It may be that this apparently irrational, ‘elastic’ metre is meant to create a certain tension, an unstable state that can influence the listeners’ consciousness.
The duration of the suite and the number of its parts are variable. The choice of the muqām to be played and its internal arrangement depends on the occasion, the guests’ expectations, the musicians’ intentions and, in some cases, astrological considerations. It always begins with a short instrumental prelude, a free-rhythm interpretation called shakl, ‘form’, which presents the tonal and melodic features of the muqām. This is followed by one or several poems, sung in the same mode, but each allotted a distinct melodic and rhythmic composition and tāl.
Each composition has several sections: the zamīn, ‘earth’, ‘ground’ (equivalent to astā’ī in Hindustani music), in the middle register, sometimes further divided into two parts, the second of which is called nīmwūz (mānja); then the baeth (antara), which develops the melody in the high range, and sometimes the sanjārī (3rd section) and the abhog (4th section).
Other vocal forms are sometimes found, such as the tellānā (tarānā, track 6a), in which the words are replaced by meaningless syllables, and instrumental compositions called gat (tracks 2 and 5). The presence of these forms seems to support the idea that dances performed by women were once associated with sūfyāna kalām.
These women (hāfiza) developed the art of interpreting poems through symbolic gestures. The dance of the hāfiza is known to have existed, but it seems to have been banned in the first half of the twentieth century because of its supposed association with prostitution.
Sūfyāna kalām is always performed by an ensemble, and is extremely austere. There are no gratuitous virtuoso effects to mar the performance of a suite, whose various parts are usually played at a relatively slow tempo. The voices and instruments play the melodies in unison, with a very few heterophonic variations intended to give the melody a certain texture, a melodic depth that enriches the phrasing and reinforces the suggestive power of the words (kalām): in any case, it is the poetic content of the song that is the most important.
The poetic repertory
The poetic repertory of sūfyāna kalām is incredibly rich. The poems are written in various languages, mostly in Persian or Kashmiri, less often in Urdu, Hindi or Punjabi. Whereas most of the musical compositions are anonymous, the poets can often be identified by the ‘signature’ woven into the last lines of the poem.
These extremely refined poems handle symbolism with consummate skill, so that each poem can be interpreted at several levels, erotic and mystic in particular. The main poetic forms used in sūfyāna kalām are the dō-beiti (distich), the ruba’ī (quatrain); the poetic genre par excellence is the ghazāl (a love poem similar to a sonnet), a poem composed of a series of couplets, singing of love and separation.
Works by almost all the great Persian poets can be found in the repertory of sūfyāna kalām: Jāmī (track 1a), Hāfiz (track 1b), Urfī (track 1c), Rūmī (track 6a), as well as Sa‘dī, ‘Omar Khayyām, Nizāmī... Among the Kashmiri authors, whose verses may be in Persian or Kashmiri, J.zef M. Pacholczyk mentions, in his book Sûfyâna Mûsîqî. The Classical Music of Kashmir (1996), the names of Shaykh Mahmūd Gāmī (tracks 3 and 6), Ya‘qūb Sarfī, Ghanī Kasjmīrī, Ghālib, Rahīm Sab, Iqbāl, Nasīr ad-Dīn, and the poetess Habba Khatun, wife of the Kashmiri sultan Yūsuf Shah Chak, who lived in the sixteenth century.
A sūfyāna kalām ensemble
A sūfyāna kalām ensemble is composed of a variable number of musicians, who all sing, as well as play an instrument. They are theoretically all men, and most come from a few families of specialists, called gharānā. The oldest singer in the group is usually the leader and the soloist. Sūfyāna kalām is so sophisticated that it requires professional musicians, who theoretically play no other kind of music and often have no other source of income. This partly explains the current decline of this practice.
On principle, the art of sūfyāna kalām is transmitted within the gharānā, and the novices are taught by their fathers, uncles or older brothers. It is a long, arduous apprenticeship: each musician must familiarise himself with the techniques of singing and playing all the instruments in the group; he must also commit to memory a considerable number of poems and make a serious study of Sufism. The musicians of sūfyāna kalām do not necessarily belong to a Sufi order, but in practice many do, which gives an added dimension and meaning to their investment in their music.
The instruments used in sūfyāna kalām are:
- the santūr, usually played by the group leader, a trapezoidal zither with 100 strings, or 25 courses of four, struck with two slender boxwood mallets called qalam;
- the sāz-e-kashmīrī, now very seldom played, a spiked fiddle with three strings, two gut and one steel; it is similar to the Persian kamāncha, but larger and fitted with 14 sympathetic strings, probably due to the influence of the Indian sārangī;
- the setār, a long-necked lute with frets, midway between the Persian setār and the Indian sitār. It comes in two sizes: the larger, which is also more common, called bod, has 9 steel strings, and the smaller, lokut, 7 strings;
- the dokra, as the Kashmiri call the tabla, the pair of kettledrums used in most regions in North India and in the neighbouring countries.
The mehfil
Sūfyāna kalām is usually performed during sessions called mehfil, ‘gathering’, bringing together a number of guests, men and women, often initiated into Sufism and followers of the same master; but they may also simply be music lovers who appreciate this meditative art. Even if a mehfil may include other phases (blessing by the pīr, recitation of litanies, partaking in a ritual meal, etc.) it is centred on the mystic hearing (samā‘) of poems sung to an accompaniment by members of the music ensemble. These sessions may be related to a particular event in the Muslim calendar or a saint’s day, but are not necessarily so; they may also take place outside any particular context, at any time of the day or night. But the time thought to be most propitious to the samā‘ is the middle of the night, between the last prayer of the day (‘isha) and the dawn prayer (fajr): the music may then go on until sunrise in the peace and quiet of a sanctuary or a family home.
The intimate nature of sūfyāna kalām implies that it is played indoors: it is truly chamber music. During a mehfil, the musicians are placed on one side of the room and their audience, men and women, sit cross-legged on the ground, usually around the three other walls. If a shaykh or special dignitary is present, he will be seated opposite the musicians, flanked by his followers in order of rank. The listeners sit perfectly still, eyes closed, concentrating wholly on the songs, the meaning of which is gradually revealed to them as they enter a state of rapture (wajd), a sort of sober drunkenness that is hard to describe, midway between a waking and dreaming state.
The situation today
Sūfyāna kalām’s survival is in jeopardy. The precarious social and political situation in Kashmir has disastrous consequences on the economy, bringing the musicians fewer assignments than in the past. They receive little support from the government and growing pressure from fundamentalists means that the public has little opportunity to hear them.
Whereas other musicians derive most of their revenue from working with Radio Kashmir Srinagar (the local station of All India Radio), specialised sūfyāna kalām musicians are seldom invited to perform there, even if the station has precious historical recordings of old masters in its archives. Unlike other “lighter” genres of Kashmiri music, such as the chakri, the rūf, the daf or the wanwūn, sūfyāna kalām is too austere to be played at weddings and popular festivities, or for tourists. Stage shows are rare in Kashmir and the perspective of foreign tours remains the exception for most sūfyāna kalām performers.
This music therefore seems doomed to remain what it is: a discreet, meditative, highly spiritual art, inseparable from
the mystic environment of the mehfil and Kashmiri Sufism. Compared to only a few decades ago, sūfyāna kalām’s situation is deteriorating and the current decline seems set to continue. The musicians in the young generation are going elsewhere, or at least they no longer devote all the energy required to learning this difficult art. Some musicians are trying to adapt their skills to other genres, while others are looking for new solutions to the crucial problem of the transmission of sūfyāna kalām, which is based on orality. The approach taken by Muhammad Ya’qūb Shaykh, grandson of Ghulām Muhammad Qālinbāf, one of the great masters of the twentieth century, is a case in point.
Unable to find enough young men prepared to devote themselves to this musical tradition, Muhammad Ya’qūb recently founded a female ensemble with young women students at the music school in which he teaches, and has even taken the opportunity of performing on television with them.
This sort of initiative will perhaps lead sūfyāna kalām into new spheres by broadening its audience. But there is reason to fear that in the long run such changes will detract from sūfyāna kalām’s primary purpose: collective meditation and the sharing of a spiritual experience during a mehfil.
Ustad Ghūlam Mohammad Sāznavāz
In this respect, the case of Ustad Ghūlam Mohammad Sāznavāz, to whom this CD is dedicated, is exemplary. He comes from a family of six generations of musicians, who believe that their ancestors are thought to have emigrated from Iran or Afghanistan in the time of King Batcha, (perhaps the Afghan Ahmad Shah Durrāni, who extended his empire to Kashmir and the area around Delhi in the second half of the eighteenth century). Famous musicians on his father’s side include his great-grandfather Ustad Hādi Joo and his grandfather Ustad Mohammad Sultān Joo. Sāznavāz learnt the art of sūfyāna kalām from his father Ustad Mohammad Ramzan Joo and his uncle Ustad Mohammad Siddiq Joo, and has passed it on to his sons Mushtaq, Shabir and Mohammad Rafiq, as well as to his grandson Kaiser, who have learned to play all the instruments; they are with him in this small family ensemble, the only one of its kind in Kashmir today.
Sāznavāz has been honoured with many official distinctions, such as the Sadiq Memorial Award in 1984, the Qālinbāf Memorial Award, the Shaykh Abdul Aziz Award, the Bismillah Khan Award from the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1998 and, the greatest honour of all, the title of Padma Śrī, bestowed on him by the Indian government in 2013. But these awards have had little effect on the musical tradition he stands for. He is still often invited to play at mehfil, but refuses all compromise and seldom performs for local radio and television.
Sāznavāz is generally regarded as the last great master of sūfyāna kalām still active, the last of a period which counted famous musicians such as Ghūlam Mohammad Qālinbāf, Shaykh Abdul Azīz and Ghūlam Mohammad Tibetbaqāl. He has a wide repertory: he says he knows forty-eight of the fiftyfour muqām in the corpus, and he has maintained the tradition of sūfyāna kalām in its original form, making no concessions. He belongs to the Chishtī Sufi order, which is well known throughout the Indian subcontinent for its use of music and songs.
The sound recordings
Ustad Ghūlam Mohammad Sāznavāz: santūr, solo voice
Mushtaq Ahmad Sāznavāz: sāz-ekashmīrī, voice
Shabir Ahmad Sāznavāz: setār, voice
Kaiser Mushtaq Sāznavāz: setār, voice
Mohammad Rafiq Sāznavāz: dokra, voice
1. Tilang muqām
According to Ustad Ghūlam Mohammad Sāznavāz, the Tilang muqām (sometimes called Mahūr) must be played in the afternoon, between 2 and 5 p.m.; it is associated with the sign of Libra and, according to Shaykh Abdul Azīz (quoted by Pacholczyk) with the buzzing of bees. This long suite begins with a short prelude (shakl) lasting just over a minute, which introduces the main melodic modules of the muqām.
Next come three poems, respectively by Jāmī (1414-1492), Hāfiz (1325/26- 1389/90) and Urfī, who was born in
Shīrāz and died in Lahore in 1591/92.
Sung in Persian, they make up the three parts of the muqām, each with its own rhythm: Yekatāla (12 mātra, 4+4+4) (1’19-15’27), Sētāla (12 mātra, 3+3+3+3) (15’27-28’53) and Chapāndāz (6 mātra, 1+2+3) (28’53-36’08).
Kalām (words): ghazāl by Maulāna Jāmī (in Persian)
" I am wounded by your sudden mood swings,
The vision of your lovely face makes me forget my pain.
Time can efface Shirīn’s image on the stone,
But the memory of her face is engraved in Farhād’s heart
Oh breeze, do not loosen the knot of her fragrant hair,
Do not lead a frivolous life; it will end in disaster.
How long will my heart ache with longing for union?
Brimming with hope, I approach her door; spurned, I turn away.
The cruel rejection of his love confronts Jāmī with his fate,
He who is doomed to die will step willingly into death’s trap."
Kalām: ghazāl by Hāfiz Shīrāzi (in Persian)
"Kings are enslaved by the beauty of your eyes
Only those drunk on your eyes are truly awake.
My tears and your growing modesty revealed the secret of love,
But we were both bound to secrecy.
O give me, Khazār the ignorant, the power of knowledge
So I can recognise my true God, exalted and sublime.
Hāfiz is not free of the loved one’s rippling hair
Only those entangled in it are free."
Kalām: ghazāl by Hazrat Urfī (in Persian)
"A glance from her is enough to bewitch me,
How desperately I longed for such love.
A single drop is enough to ruin me,
No cup has ever been so full.
My heart invokes the love of her hidden beauty,
Desire for a seed not yet sown or sullied
My madness has freed me from the real world
And yet good people called me wise.
Her presence dwells within me and all around me,
I aspire to such a sanctuary in the temples.
Urfī bled from deep in his wound.
Must the moth burn in its own light?"
2. Jinjōtī muqām – Instrumental piece: sāz-e-kashmīrī
This instrumental composition (gat) brings out the tonal quality of the spiked fiddle sāz-e-kashmīrī, played by Mushtaq Ahmad Sāznavāz to an accompaniment on the santūr and the dokra. It is performed in the Jinjōtī (Mānj or Majīrī) muqām in the Dōyeka rhythmic cycle (16 mātra, 4+4+4+4).
Played in the morning, from 3 to 5 a.m. or from 10 a.m. to midday, Jinjōtī is said to be associated with the meowing of a cat.
3. Jinjōtī muqām
The next poem is sung in the same Jinjōtī muqām, in Yekatāla rhythm (12 mātra, 4+4+4). The song is a bilingual ghazāl by the Kashmiri poet Mahmūd Gāmī (1765-1855): it consists of a zamīn in Persian and a baeth in Kashmiri.
Kalām: ghazāl by Mahmūd Gāmī (in Persian and Kashmiri)
"O thou, I gaze with wide open eyes at thy enchanting face,
O all you wide-awake lovers, I study the face of my sweetheart.
Abandon doubt, hatred and jealousy if you want to be a true lover,
Rub the rust off your mirror to have a vision of your beloved."
4. Dōgāh muqām
Associated with the sign of Sagittarius and the song of the cuckoo, the Dōgāh muqām is played in the morning, from 9 a.m. to midday, according to Ustad Sāznavāz, and is believed to relieve fevers and sore throats. The poem is also taken from Gāmī’s work, and is here sung in Kashmiri to the Sētāla rhythm (12 mātra, 3+3+3+3).
Kalām: ghazāl by Mahmūd Gāmī (in Kashmiri)
"O my darling, dazzled by the vision of each other,
We experienced the fire of eternal love.
Ablaze with your love, I wandered through ponds and rivers
To soothe the suffering caused by your love."
5. Kōchak muqām – Instrumental piece: setār
In this instrumental piece, the solo instrument is the long-necked lute known as a setār, with an extremely subtle tone, played by Shabir Ahmad Sāznavāz, to an accompaniment on the santūr and the dokra. The composition follows the pattern of the Kōchak muqām (also known as Kalyān) and the rhythmic cycle is Dōyeka (16 mātra, 4+4+4+4). Played in the evening, from 9 p.m. the Kōchak suite is apparently associated with the Cancer constellation and the crying of an infant and reputedly eases heartache.
6. Navrōz-e-Sabā muqām
Navrōz-e-Sabā, also called Majavāt or simply Sabā, is a muqām played in the morning, from 7 to 10 a.m. According to Ustad Sāznavāz, it is associated with the sign of Libra and is believed to relieve headaches. In this short piece, the prelude is followed by two sections: the first is composed of a distich (dōbeiti) by the great Persian poet Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī (1207-1273) and a tellānā without words, sung to a rhythmic cycle in Dōyeka (8 mātra, 2+2+2+2); the second is an anonymous poem in Chapāndāz (6 mātra, 1+2+3).
Kalām: dō-beiti by Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī (in Persian)
"Entranced by the vision of your face,
I forgot my morning prayer,
May one still pray after sunrise?
Kalām: anonymous ghazāl (in Persian)
"Death was just an illusion, love’s shaft had killed me long before,
I was deliberately ignored, on the pretext of the virtues of modesty.
The worshipper dares not gaze on your beautiful face,
He has chosen solitude, claiming the fear of God.
I went to the mosque in search of the beloved face,
But alas it had been veiled by falsely pious hands
My voice brought her out of her house,
Already marked for sacrifice, my offering was in vain."
Laurent Aubert

CONCERTS IN NORTH INDIA: MUSIQUE FOR PEACE
In January 2010, I gave a concert tour in North India with my frind Pandit Nayan Ghosh to support the organization known as Ekta Parishad (see below) which fights, in alignment with Gandhi, for the rights of the farmers without land or resources.This itinerary took us first to Gwalior, then to Damoh, Kutni and Umarya and finally Bhopal where we played for the opening of the international conference entitled “Towards a Non Violent Economy”.
North India this year was cloaked in fog and icy cold and the trains up to 16 hours behind schedule!As we travelled we visited several Ekta Parishad projects in the company of Rajagopal, its founder and president.
My wife Liliane, together with several others in the Geneva region, has created a support group for Ekta Parishad.If you are interested in joining them contact: detoledo.liliane@gmail.com
RAJAGOPAL
Born in Kerala and once a famous Khatakali dancer, Rajagopal stopped performing when he was 20 to become an engineer in agriculture. He discovered, during a tour following in Gandhi’s footsteps, the consequences of modernisation and uncontrolled industrialisation: “A whole section of society is pushed aside; farmers are chased from their land without any compensation from multinational companies, nor any benefit from intensive agriculturenor the extension of building areas.Aboriginal tribes, India’s very first inhabitants, have to leave their ancestral forests, evicted by a government that prefers to exploit wood and mineral resources or build national parks for tourists.” Gandhi mobilised the tremendous force of non violence to obtain the independence of India; Rajagopal uses it to promote social justice.
EKTA PARISHAD
In 1991, Rajagopal founded Ekta Parishad, a movement unifying 380 local organisations representing the voiceless and landless of India that trains “barefoot” social coordinators who help the poorest take charge of their destiny. Nowadays, Ekta Parishad has more than one million supporters.Following in Gandhi’s footsteps, Rajagopal organizes “padyatra”, pacific marches to defend the rights of those who are the most deprived.
The main objective is to allow farmers and tribal families to live decently from their agriculture and traditional activities rather than being forced to migrate to cities, thus increasing the population living in huge and unhealthy slums. During the last ten years, in India, 150’000 farmers have committed suicide because mired in debt after having bought chemicals, pesticides and seeds that did not yield the promised results.
JANADESH 2007
In the month of October 2007, 25’000 people walked, withexemplary discipline, the 350 km from Gwalior to Delhi, to force the Government to recognise their rights to land, forest and water. The most significant results of this action – called Janadesh (People’s verdict) – were the implementation of the Forest Rights Act aiming to protect indigenous people, the creation of a National Land Reform Committee and land distribution to thousands of farmers. Janadesh also intensified the training of tens of thousands of rural youths in non violent action and theempowerment of women.Nevertheless much still needs to be done.
Half the inhabitants of our world are farmers, three quarters of them still work with only thier hands.Guaranteeing these farmers the necessary conditions so that they are able to live from their work is one of the major challenges of sustainable development.Beyond India with its 70% of farmers, it is a world challenge for the fair sharing of resources, for harmonious cohabitation of all earth’s peoples, pleasant cities, agricultura that respects the environment, locally based economies and finally, so that violence not be the only alternative left for millions of poor, hungry, ruined, displaced people who have nothing left to lose.In this, the 21st century, one billion people are under-nourished; one human being dies of hunger every 4 seconds, that is 25,000 per day… (FAO 2008)
JAN SATYAGRAHA
Gandhi forged the term “satyagraha” to express the strength derived from just action stemming from the truth. An even bigger march than the first one took place in October 2012 uniting some 100,000 walkers. It went by the name Jan Satyagraha or Non Violent March for Justice. As a result the Indian government has passed several laws in favour of the poor and those without land.
For information on Rajagopal, Ekta Parishad, Janadesh 2007 and Jan Satyagraha 2012:
www.ektaparishad.com
Link to the movie "Millions Can Walk" :www.millionscanwalk-film.com
Candidate WWSF:
Portrait of a “barefoot” rural coordinator of Ekta Parishad:Narmada or the non violent fight for the right to land and the defense of the poorest.
[download PDF] (in French)

All over the world there are musical traditions with a spiritual approach that invites you to discover an inner space and brings you to a meditative state. In Paul Grant’s case, it is the classical music of the East, in particular the ragas of North India, the Persian dastgah and the Sufi music of Kashmir, which are favourite doorways to another dimension of being.
“Often music from these traditions takes me out of the mental plane, giving me access to a world beyond time and space. The notes must be in perfect harmony, full and clear which implies that the player has matured through years of practice and can abandon himself to the moment. Following the notes you can access the silence, which is the source from which they are born. One of my greatest joys consists in sharing this world of sound and silence, with audiences that are receptive to it. Music can open hearts and create new possibilities for coming together in a communion which can be truly magical.”
The CD “Ragas for Serenity” was specially assembled from the most meditative aspects of the classical Hindustani repertoire so as to enhance relaxation and give access to a calm inner space.
Paul is often invited to perform at yoga workshops, spiritual meetings and meditation retreats. He has played for many renowned masters from various spiritual traditions such as Swami Muktananda, Guru Mayi, Hari Das Baba, Swami Satchitananda, Chandra Swami, Yvan Amar, Jean Klein, Arnaud Desjardins, Sri Tathata, amongst others.
In 2014, he participated in the “Festival de la Méditation” at the Tao Centre, Paris; the 30th Anniversary of the “Bonne Yoga Club” at the Clos des Capucins, Yenne; the event “Meditation? Journée découverte”, Geneva and in the well known forum of “Terre du Ciel, savoirs et sagesses du monde”, Aix-les-Bains.